Air Force One, A Qatari-Donated Bridge Aircraft
The Subtle Transformation From UN/NATO Blue To USA Red, White, And Blue
On 6/19/26, the U.S. Air Force announced that the new Air Force One was ready to go. The Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft arrived at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, to begin its commissioning flights. Upon arrival, this stunning aircraft was in the news cycle almost every day for the first 10 days of July.
Yes, it would be true to state that Air Force One has evolved over the years. However, this most recent upgrade seems to carry a little deeper meaning.
Have you ever stepped back and wondered why the most important aircraft in the world had to be received as a donation from a foreign country? The most powerful nation in the world with the most advanced military had to receive a donated plane for its President and Commander-in-Chief? In what alternative world do these facts make any sense? Why is a loaner vehicle/aircraft needed for our President and Commander-In-Chief for the next 2 years? More plainly, why is a foreign country able to produce/deliver a Boeing aircraft, but Boeing is not able to deliver the final version of AF1 directly to the United States military until mid 2028?
Setting aside logically thinking and nagging investigative reporting instincts to raise more questions, our “Maha Collective” team of citizen journalists decided to ignore the elephant in the room and simply focus on documenting the first trips made by AF1.
So why would our team embark on what might appear to be a rather futile exercise of “getting one’s groove on” with AF1? In our team’s humble opinion, we are likely living through one of the longest continuity of government military operations in the history of the world and the start of the next phase of operations. More plainly, we are likely witnessing history in the making with the introduction of this new aircraft. Shockingly, the majority of Americans do not even realize anything is happening so we felt that documenting its first 10 days of operations would be timely.
With all of that said, our team proudly presents a summary of the inaugural flights for the Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft (AF1), covering the first ten days of July 2026. For those interested, here is the evolution of the flags representing Qatar over the years. Qatar is located approximately 4 hours from the Straight of Hormuz.
Flight #1: The first official flight of the Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft occurred on 7/1/26. Sporting its freshly painted patriotic attire, the first official flight of Air Force One went from Joint Base Andrews to North Dakota, the Roughrider State. When the landing gear opened up for the first time on official business, it set wheels down in the capital city of North Dakota at Bismarck Municipal Airport (BIS). Rough riders on horseback escorted Trump’s motorcade once on the ground.
The call sign for this “maiden voyage” was Air Force One as President Trump was on board to dedicate the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Flight #2: The second flight of the Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft involved the 250th anniversary celebration on 7/3/26. On this journey, Air Force One set wheels down at Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, SD. Trump spoke at Mount Rushmore near Keystone, SD right before fireworks painted the sky red, white, and blue.
The call signs for this journey to South Dakota were Air Force One (when President Trump was on board) and RCH1 (“Reach”) for the fly-overs during the event.
Flight #3: The third flight of the Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft involved more 250th anniversary celebrations on 7/4/26. The aircraft participated in Independence Day flyovers in Washington, DC.
The callsign for this DC flyover was Air Force One, suggesting that President Trump may have been on board while being flanked by 4 fighter jets.
Flight #4: The fourth flight of the Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft became headline news as Trump flew overseas to the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey. This outbound flight occurred over two days on the calendar - July 6-7. Turkey rolled out the blue carpet for Trump and Air Force One when it arrived.
The callsign for this flight was RCH1/Air Force One.
Flight #5: The fifth flight of the Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft is where things got interesting. The scheduled return flight from Ankara, Turkey back to the United States on 7/8/26 was abruptly changed last minute and rerouted (without the President on board) from Ankara, Turkey to RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom.
The callsign for this flight adjusted from “Air Force One” to SAM33/RCH33. SAM stands for Special Air Mission, a call sign often used when the President is NOT on board. For reasons unbeknownst at the time, President Trump hopped on the old United Nations/NATO colored blue aircraft instead and reunited with the Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, UK.
It was reported later by John Solomon and other sources that the Secret Service advised Trump to not fly on the Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft when leaving Turkey, for security reasons.
Flight #6: The sixth flight of the Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft flew from RAF Mildenhall, UK to Joint Base Andrews, MD on 7/9/26. Pictures of the plane resting at Joint Base Andrews, MD are hard to find, but Reuters and other sources confirmed that the plane did land on 7/9/26. Rather ironically, Trump signed a proclamation titled “Adjusting Imports of Commercial Aircraft, Jet Engines, and Aircraft and Engine Parts into the United States” while Air Force One flew over the Gulf of America for the first time.
The callsign for this flight was Air Force One/RCH1.
After the return flight, it was reported that four (4) NYT journalists had been subpoenaed for publishing a story about the Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft that cited security concerns.
This concludes the first 10 days of operations of the new, rent-to-own, Air Force One.
Does it kind of feel like we just returned the old Air Force One to the United Kingdom and just left it on the side of the road for dead?
And what exactly do the color changes on the new aircraft signify? Does the subtle transformation from the UN/NATO blue colors to the patriotic USA red, white, and blue colors mean more than we know?
It certainly feels that way as it took less than 10 days for assassination attempts to descend upon the Qatari-donated Boeing VC-25B Bridge aircraft that we affectionately refer to as Air Force One.
On 7/12/26, it did appear that Air Force One was up and running, per this post by Trump on social media. However, there is no public record of an Air Force One flight, escorted by fighter jets, occurring on 7/12/26.
And rather quietly on 7/20/26, the White House social media page on X attached the words “Say Less” to a picture of Trump standing on the steps of the new Air Force One indicating that the plane will be “Maxed Out” and taken out of service.
More plainly, this new plane does not appear to be just your normal aircraft. It is a bold statement of freedom that the “invisible enemy” is likely not going to tolerate.
The United States of America, the country, is back in business. Bye, bye blue….hello red, white and blue.
